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The Proposal, the only romantic comedy in the top ten, had another great weekend, as it is proving to be one of the better counter-programming examples we've seen (it helps living in the shadow of the ultra-huge Transformers). After dropping 45% last weekend against the mighty machines, the Sandra Bullock flick bounced back nicely this weekend, earning $12.8 million and dropping only 31%. Considering the amount of competition and the July 4th weekend, Disney and Touchstone have to be very happy with this result. The Proposal is now a stone's throw away from $100 million with a gross so far of $94.2 million – all against a budget of only $40 million.

Fifth spot goes to The Hangover, which doesn't hold up as well as The Proposal, as part of its audience is at Public Enemies and Transformers. Now in its fifth weekend, The Hangover earned another $10.4 million and drops a not-terrible 39%. The Warner Bros. flick passed the $200 million mark this weekend, and while its future outlook does not look as rosy as it once did, The Hangover still has an outside shot at $250 million, and should outgross Wedding Crashers ($209 million) by the end of next weekend. It has a current domestic total of $204.2 million against a budget of only $35 million.

Up falls to sixth, and it is no suprise that the Pixar film took a drubbing from Ice Age 3, as Up moved out of those 3-D theaters, while Ice Age moved in. Up grossed $6.6 million and fell 50%, which is similar to the surprise 54% drop that Coraline (another 3-D animated flick) saw earlier this year in its fourth weekend, after drops of 12% and 23%. For Coraline, those pesky Jonas Brothers moved into theatres, and their 3-D concert experience left Coraline on the outside of those higher 3-D ticket prices. For Up, the move out of the 3-D theatres doesn't matter as much. Up has already earned $264.9 million, and is now Pixar's second highest grossing movie next to Finding Nemo, as it passed The Incredibles this weekend.

My Sister's Keeper takes an absolute (and unexpected) drubbing this weekend. After debuting last weekend to $12.4 million, the Cameron Diaz flick got bashed this weekend, earning only $5.3 million. That gives the weeper a drop of 58%, and goes against the norm of weepers providing good legs. This one won't come close to The Notebook's domestic tally of $81 million. My Sister's Keeper now has a gross of $30 million.

The Taking of Pellham 1 2 3 continues its fall, as this one has quickly lost momentum from its $23.4 million opening weekend. After drops of 49% and 55%, Pellham records a gross of $2.5 million, and drops 54% in its fourth frame. The Tony Scott thriller now has a gross of $58.4 million.

Ninth goes to Year One, the Jack Black/Michael Cera comedy. After a ridiculous drop last weekend of 69%, things don't improve that much this weekend. Year One earned $2.1 million and dropped 65%. It has a tally so far of $38.1 million against a budget of $60 million.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian also gets kneecapped by Ice Age, but for different reasons than Up. Night at the Museum 2 earned $2.1 million and fell 42%. Museum 2 is one of those broad family comedies like Ice Age that is more centered on laughs than Up. The Ben Stiller comedy has now earned $167.8 million, and over $200 million from overseas business.

Overall this weekend, things are better than I thought they might be. Considering where the holiday landed this year, the top 12 films earned a solid $155,729,533 million. Last year, with July 4th landing on a Friday, the top 12 films took in $153 million thanks to Will Smith and Hancock. In 1998, the last year July 4th fell on a Saturday, the top 12 brought in just over $100 million. Next weekend should be very interesting again, as Universal opens Bruno, while Fox opens the much smaller I Love You, Beth Cooper.

Top Weekend Box Office for 7/3/09-7/5/09 (Actuals)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Actual Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	DreamWorks Pictures	$42,500,000	$42,320,877	- 61.2%	$293,355,885
2	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs	Twentieth Century Fox	$42,500,000	$41,690,382	New	$66,732,868
3	Public Enemies	Universal Pictures	$26,171,900	$25,271,675	New	$40,141,080
4	The Proposal	Touchstone Pictures	$12,779,000	$12,857,482	- 30.8%	$94,335,111
5	The Hangover	Warner Bros. Pictures	$10,415,000	$11,268,413	- 33.8%	$205,038,233
6	Up	Walt Disney Pictures	$6,579,000	$6,521,389	- 50.1%	$264,816,694
7	My Sister's Keeper	Warner Bros. Pictures	$5,255,000	$5,788,327	- 53.5%	$26,518,582
8	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$2,500,000	$2,534,228	- 53.5%	$58,508,070
9	Year One	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$2,100,000	$2,323,843	- 61.4%	$38,304,392
10	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	20th Century Fox	$2,100,000	$2,043,288	- 43.9%	$167,706,959
11	Star Trek	Paramount	$1,730,000	$1,769,967	- 52.3%	$249,838,139
12	Away We Go	Focus Features	$1,099,633	$1,098,212	- 35.8%	$6,077,303
	Also Opening/Notables
	Lion's Den	Strand	N/A	$3,484	New	$3,484
	Laila's Birthday	Kino	N/A	$3,345	New	$5,081
	Cheri	Miramax Films	$388,000	$388,994	- 4.1%	$1,023,909
	Whatever Works	Sony Pictures Classics	$1,067,059	$1,067,059	+196.6%	$2,017,440
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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